Association of body mass index with progression from binge-eating behavior into binge-eating disorder among adolescents in the United States: A prospective analysis of pooled data

The association between body mass index (BMI) and binge -eating disorder (BED) is well -established. However, data on the extent to which BMI is associated with progression from binge -eating behavior into BED among adolescents are limited, which was the aim of this investigation. Participants were 9964 U.S. adolescents from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, aged 9 -13 at the time of study enrollment. A computerized parent -reported assessment was used to establish adolescents ' binge -eating behaviors and BED. Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for sociodemographic covariates were used to examine prospective associations between BMI and likelihood of BED onset among a) adolescents with binge -eating behavior, and b) adolescents with no binge -eating behavior. Of 975 adolescents who met the study criteria for binge -eating behavior, 89 (9.1%) subsequently met the study criteria for BED. Of 8989 adolescents with no binge -eating behavior, 82 (0.9%) subsequently met the study criteria for BED. BMI percentile was significantly associated with the likelihood of BED onset in participants with (adjusted HR = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00, 1.06) and participants without (adjusted HR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.03, 1.07) binge -eating behavior. Results were also significant when examining BMI as a dichotomous predictor (above and below 85th percentile) among those with (adjusted HR = 2.60, 95% CI 1.00, 6.68) and those without (adjusted HR = 6.01, 95% CI 3.90, 11.10) bingeeating behavior. Overall, results indicate that elevated BMI is prospectively associated with a greater risk for BED onset among U.S. adolescents with or without binge -eating behavior. Adolescents with a higher BMI may benefit from screening for binge eating, and prevention/early intervention strategies to mitigate the risk for developing BED.